October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Annually, the Office of Formation and Discipleship updates our online resource and referral information currently available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. This year, we are happy to provide parishes with newly updated pamphlets that can be a helpful resource for those in the cycle of violence. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the resources and consider printing pamphlets to raise awareness in your parish.

The newly updated pamphlets Domestic Violence: Break the Silence, Stop the Cycle are helpful tools in ministry and provide you with a quick reference for local resources. Please view the attached pamphlets or click here to download them.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also offers recommendations and many other ideas and resources for pastors, clergy and pastoral staff to use throughout the year.

Unfortunately, Georgia had a significant increase in domestic violence-related homicides in 2015. The Project recorded 139 domestic violence related deaths – the highest number of deaths ever recorded by the Project in the past 10 years. A total of 61,415 crisis calls were made in 2014 to Georgia’s certified domestic violence agencies. Authorities believe that more incidents go unreported. Making it known that a parish is a safe place where both victims and abusers can find hope and healing can be a powerful means of ending this cycle of violence.